“Renaming the Sharon Post Office after Emil Bolas is a simple gesture of thanks to a man who served his community and our country honorably,” Boccieri said in a statement.

The Sharon Center Post Office, 1332 Sharon Copley Road, Sharon Township, might be named after Emil Bolas, who served the township for 35 years as a trustee before his death in August 2008. (Lisa Hlavinka / Gazette)

Bolas served nearly nine consecutive terms as trustee and 11 years as the Zoning Appeals Board chairman before his death in 2008.

“Taking care of people was my father’s business,” his daughter, Kim Bolas Miller, said. “He wanted to help people, and this was his way of doing it.”

Bolas was instrumental in putting the post office in the Sharon Copley Road building, and he later pushed for the township to buy the small brick facility.

“The township purchased it so it can always be used as a community building, even if the post office moved out of there,” Miller said.

Bolas was a member of the board of directors for many organizations, including the Ohio Township Association, an elected position voted on by constituents throughout Ohio, Miller said.

“He felt township government was the best because it was closer to the people,” she said.

Bolas also served on the board of directors for the Medina County Drug Task force, Medina County Regional Planning Committee, Northeast Ohio Planning Commission, Sharon Community Trusts, Sharon Center Lions Club and the Highland Foundation for Educational Excellence.

Bolas died after a long battle with lung cancer at age 76 on Aug. 14, 2008. An estimated 700 people attended his funeral. He is buried in Sharon Cemetery, where he served as sexton for many years.

Soon after his death, trustee Jim Dudek passed away, leaving two vacancies on the board of trustees.

Miller, who was the township fiscal officer at the time, applied for one of the seats and was appointed by Probate Judge John J. Lohn to replace her father. She was elected to a four-year term in November.

“It is an honor to fill my dad’s shoes,” Miller said.

She said perhaps her father’s proudest accomplishment was overseeing the construction of Sharon Community Park.

“He was just so involved in the community,” Miller said. “They called him ‘Mr. Sharon Township.’ ”